tardy , but it is almost sure to come , and
then it will only be a question of time
when his services will become indis
pensable , and his success certain.
Chicago , July 10 , 1901.
W. B. BARR.
General Freight Agent , Chicago Terminal
Transfer Company.
Almost without our knowledge , cer
tainly without the appreciation that will
follow later on , our country has ad
vanced from a subordinate place , to that
of a great international factor with new
responsibilities , requiring new align
ments and changed methods. Abreast of
this , has come an evolution in commer
cial life , to meet what we suppose to be
the conditions , and to retain for us the
advantages , that we now consider are
ours. The question you ask , "What
are the Young Man's Chances , " in view
of these facts , is one of present interest.
My answer must be given from an
humble vantage ground , and my reply
has reference to the average young man ,
not the child of auspicious fortunes , nor
the youth of many disadvantages. The
issue , it seems to me , depends upon
whether or not changed conditions in a
large measure restrict opportunity. My
belief is that the opportunities for enter
ing railway service , under favorable cir
cumstances , are not so frequent as in
former years.
This is because of the system and or
ganization that have been constantly go
ing on , giving to railway employment a
semi-professional tone , and requiring , so
far as may be , trained minds , and also
because of the introduction , wherever it
has been practicable , of civil service
rules. The result has , naturally and
not artificially , brought to the front a
class of men , to whom , all other influ
ences being equal , preferment will be
given in engaging their services at the
start , and in promoting their advance
ment after being employed.
In support of this view , the free en
couragement of certain institutions ,
where the theory of railroad work is be
ing taught , or at least some branches of
the work , would seem to confirm the
statement. Having once entered rail
way employ , however , the chances for
success are as favorable as ever , though
perhaps along different lines. The pri
mary qualifications : loyalty , fidelity , in
dustry , and proper ambition , " are as
truly requisites as ever , yet other things
must supplement these more than here
tofore.
The restrictions of wasteful competi
tion and the introduction of "The Com
munity of Interests Policy" probably
mean the retirement of the tonnage man
and the advancement of the man who
works for legitimate revenue. In this
new line of work will be found the
student of railroad ethics , who will be
the sagacious diplomat of railway life.
Geography and climate , as specifically
pertaining to his road , foreign competi
tion , and foreign market prices , as well
as the local environment of his company ,
must be the considerations for him , of
ficially , so that ho may conserve invest
ors' interests in satisfactory earnings by
having fully active , the'Jvarious indus
tries and avocations that produce them.
"Smart railroading" is being discard
ed. Cunning , crafty methods are being
supplanted by a broader general policy
on commercial lines , and each year sees
W. B. BARR.
the idea more nearly in control , consequently
quently my opinion is , that the young
men now in railroad life , have better
chances for achieving great eminence
and well merited reputations along more
modern lines than ever before. On the
other hand , I feel equally confident of
the added difficulty of securing a favor
able start in the railway world.
The business evolution in mercantile
and commercial life , may substitute for
partnerships and individual ownership ,
corporate control , thereby eliminating
the chances , largely , for purely personal
success. . Railway men being employees
of corporations , and looking for ad
vancement under the rules that govern
their respective companies , the change
that has invaded other lines of occupa
tion will not affect their interests a
similar way , for the reason that the re
ward of their efforts has not , except in
rare oases , assumed the form of owner
ship or control of the properties , whose
interests they served.
Chicago , July 10,1901.
W. C. BROWN ,
Vice-President and General Manager , Lake
Shore & Michigan Southern Ry. Co.
Taking the field of human effort as a
whole , professional , clerical , labor
skilled and unskilled , the impartial
student of history must arrive at the
conclusion that from the time the bread
supply was conditioned upon the sweat
of man's brow , no generation has been
so favored as the present.
More can be earned in a less number
of hours with less hardship and expos
ure to danger , and a dollar now will
procure more of the necessaries or lux
uries of life than ever before.
In almost every department of busi
ness the opportunity for securing work
ip as five to one when compared with a
quarter of a century ago , and with
faithful , intelligent , persevering service ,
advancement is absolutely sure and
more rapid than ever before.
Thirty years ago a young man in an
official position on a railroad was the
exception , and too frequently the most
potent recommendation in securing em
ployment and promotion was relation
ship to some prominent share-holder or
director. In those days , railroads were
widely separated , and the sharp , strenu
ous , competitive , conditions which now
obtain were unknown. Rates were
high and the necessity for the most
rigid economy and the highest possible
standard of operating efficiency ( with
out which no railroad can now live )
was not felt.
Present conditions demand the very
best material obtainable , and the son of
the section man has the call , and is
selected in place of the sou of the
director or the large share-holder if the
former possesses these elements in
larger measure than the latter"and he
can come pretty near dictating his own
terms of employment.
The marvelous development of elec
tricity as a producer of light , heat and
power , has opened up to the young man
of the present , a field almost as wide
and promising in itself , as the entire
field of opportunity , which awaited the
graduate of the high school or college
thirty years ago.
Conditions surrounding the young
man starting out in life , and especially
in railroad service , are better , almost
beyond belief.
Thirty years ago the only doors open
to the young man , fresh from the home
on the farm , or in the villagewere those
of the saloon or the cheap boarding
house ; drinking , profanity , and all that
was bad , was the rule , and acceptance
of service in the operating department
of a railroad was regarded as a pretty
definite step on the downward road.
Today , the Young Men's Christian
Association with its commodious , quiet
reading-rooms , well-kept bath-rooms
and comfortable sleeping-rooms , has
taken the place of the saloon , and fre
quently the train and engine men from
various divisions gather in union religi
ous meetings at the headquarters of this
association.
A candidate for the presidency , dur
ing the last campaign , propounded the
scriptural interrogatory , "Is it well